The invention relates to a passenger automobile with a pressure tank having an axis extending along the longitudinal vehicle axis.
So as to be able to carry a larger amount of gaseous fuel in vehicles, and in order to increase the operating range of the vehicles, it is known to use so-called pressure tanks for storing gaseous fuels. These pressure tanks are constructed so that they can contain an amount of fuel as large as possible, especially hydrogen, at pressures of up to 700 bar. The known pressure tanks have a cylindrical cross section for accommodating these pressures.
DE 101 63 029 A1 discloses a fuel cell vehicle with a cylindrical high pressure hydrogen tank, where the tank is arranged in a transverse manner in the upper section of the rear end of the motor vehicle.
JP 2002370550 A1 also shows a vehicle where several identical high pressure hydrogen tanks are arranged transversely near the rear vehicle axle. These high pressure hydrogen tanks also have a cylindrical cross section.
JP 2005212729 A1 discloses an arrangement of two or more cylindrical high pressure hydrogen tanks arranged transversely near the rear axle. One tank has a smaller diameter than the other for better utilization of the available installation space.
From DE 10 2005 003 669 A1, JP 2005212513 A1 and US 2005/0224265 A1 arrangements of the cylindrical high pressure hydrogen tanks in the transverse vehicle direction and also in the longitudinal vehicle direction are known. JP 2005212513 A1 suggests hereby to arrange the cylindrical tank in the center tunnel.
In the specifications WO 2006/029415 A2, JP 2004026117 A1 and DE 102 97 132 T5, it is suggested to arrange several cylindrical high pressure hydrogen tanks along the longitudinal vehicle axis. So as to use the available installation space as well as possible, the cylindrical tanks are either arranged in the vehicle center or at the side of the vehicle. Also, the diameters of the cylindrical tanks may be different.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a passenger automobile with a pressure tank, in which a large amount of fuel can be carried with relatively small requirement for otherwise usable space.